Sunday Afternoon.

Yesterday would have been the perfect beginning to Spring Break except for the fact that Spring Break begins on Tuesday this year.

My family came to my house for lunch. 10 people. I was happy though. I had invited them all to come on Saturday, but then yesterday morning Grandpa fell and had to go to the hospital. Dad and Mama scurried around all morning taking care of things, so it worked out quite nicely that they did have to worry about cooking for all the kiddos. It was nice for us all to be together even if it was only for a short time. (Grandpa did get sent home in the evening and is recovering.)

Another sight that did my heart good was my niece wearing jeans and the tutu I made her, carrying a dinosaur, holding Aunt LiLi's hand. So adorable. She had everything she wanted and so did I.

Race for the Cure 2010 (Arkansas)

On Friday afternoon, Justin and I headed west to Little Rock, Arkansas. We were meeting his family for the Arkansas Race for the Cure. This is a six year tradition for them and a second year tradition for me. That race is the 3rd largest in the world. (That means a lot of pink!) And you know you are in Arkansas when women wear pink duck decoys on their heads for breast cancer awareness!

While in Little Rock, we ate at Bosco's, walked in RFTC, napped, went to the Museum of Discovery (super fun!), shopped at Ten Thousand Villages (another tradition!), and visited the Old Mill. Of course, we loved playing with his niece. She is at such a fun age.

On the way back to Nashville, we stopped in Memphis and got to visit with my friends- Marcus, Mandy, MJ and baby bump Emma Paige. It was so nice to see old friends who have meant so much to me. We ate dinner at Westy's (and missed out on their famous Fudge Pie... what were we thinking?!!?). Justin and I also ran into this cute shop call Red Fish Gifts. That might have to become a tradition too. :)

This week is fall break for me so I will be cleaning, cooking, and just relaxing. Can't wait!

Family Vacation 2010: Gatlinburg

A couple of months ago, my parents called to invite/inform me of the Great Family Vacation of 2010. We would be going to Gatlinburg, TN for one week. It was the first big family vacation that I have been on in nine years!

Having two parents, six children, four significant others, and two grandchildren all in one place for a period of a week could make for pure torture, I am happy to say it was the BEST vacation ever. Really.

We took a old time family portrait, made good use of the indoor waterpark at our condo, had a goofy golf challenge, celebrated Jakson's 2nd birthday, go-carted, played games, hot-tubbed, strolled through Gatlinburg, made a crazy amount of U-turns in Pigeon Forge, visited the Christmas store, and caught up on life. I was blessed to be able to spend some quality time with Caitlin and Cameron while they picked out Cameron's wedding band. Justin and I had a day to ourselves on which we got to see a black bear!

Sadly, we had to leave on Wednesday night in order for me to get back to work. I ended up taking Wednesday off and I am so thankful I did. There are not many times that the whole family gets to be together and I am so thankful that this one was so special.